How To Handle Your Monsters!
by Yaoi Goddess of Doom
Summary: Riku lives a pretty "normal" life. Being totally smitten with your red headed friend, suffering the average adulthood, and dealing with supernatural beings on a daily basis. Just your regular 18 year old male!


**This is a rough draft of some sorts for a possible upcoming story. If this gets enough approval, I may go over this and refine it more, separate it more clearly into chapters, and continue on with it. Let me know what you think!**

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Riku stood questionably in front of a tall, closet mirror, reviewing his outfit for his friend's upcoming Halloween party. Riku prepped his long hair and set it into loose braid before hanging it loosely over his shoulder, pairing the end with a loose red string tied into a bow.

Would Lea like this as his friends has so positively suggested?

It wasn't as if he had a brilliant costume idea to begin with. He was seriously debating on being lazy and just arriving there with a shirt that said, "Hi I'm With Stupid" with an arrow pointing to himself.

But instead, he was talked into dressing like Little Red Riding Hood. He buttoned up his white long sleeved dress shirt, baggy along the forearm and then tightened around his wrist, and tucked it neatly into his black dress pants. He shrugged his arms into the loops of a vested corset that sat right in the middle of his belly, grabbing the two strings and pulling tight before tying it.

Very slowly, he threw upon his red capes hood, completing his look. Smiling as he turned from side to side and satisfied with his look, he walked about his room to straighten it before he left. He stacked his college medical books neatly on top of his desk in a pile and closed his studious notes he had been taking earlier before he had to leave.

He stopped upon a book that had been a gift from Naminé for his 18th birthday. It stood out like a sore thumb compared to his other books. It was black as night and the typography was spaced out, giving off a creepy vibe. It was called "How To Deal With Your Monsters" and was quite literally an explanation on how to deal with mythical creatures. He would read it when he was free from homework, which had been barely any time since he is studying to be a nurse.

Riku placed it open on the page he had left off, the first chapter was about vampires. It was honestly an interesting read, despite it being all hocus-pocus as he believed that stuff to be.

Riku left his apartment complex, grabbed his picnic basket on the way out, and locked the door behind him. As he stepped into a brisk Halloween night, he thought about all his friends that were going to be there.

Naminé was an odd girl with odd hobbies. Riku never remembered her wearing anything other than black, and he had a peculiar feeling that she was into witchcraft given the pentagram she always wore on her neck.

Then there was her cousin, Kairi, who was honestly the complete opposite of her in how she presented herself. She wore bright colors all the time, most of the time without even a smidgen on black in her wardrobe. He wouldn't necessarily say Kairi was more friendly as both of them were kind; the scarlet haired girl was just more exuberant.

Much like her, there was Sora, another exuberant guy. Riku noticed the brunette had always been somewhat cautious around him, as he always asked to come inside his house. Sometimes he was just a little to polite for his own good and Riku hoped he could help him be looser around him one of these days. He was actually one of the four quadruplets, but he had only met Roxas and Ventus, but they mainly kept to themselves. The most Riku knew about them was they always spoke in unison.

Then, there was Lea. Riku has sighed longingly as he placed his hand on his own chest, heart starting to flutter. There was so much to say about him-

The wind turned a little colder and Riku hugged his red cape around him tightly. He continued to walk along until he noticed someone's footsteps other than his own. He dared to glance behind him, confirming that there was someone in a dark hoodie walking behind him some feet away.

He didn't think much of it as he paced himself, looking ahead of him again. Riku was now more aware of the surrounding sounds, now listening more closely for the footsteps behind him which no matched his pace.

Riku suddenly stopped in place, breathing through his mouth as he slowly looked behind him, finding the person had stopped in place as well. His confirmed his suspicious that he was being followed. Riku suddenly felt panic well within him, instinctively sprinting off.

"Oh my god, oh my god," he lisped under his breath as he was coming close to Lea's house. He could hear the dull music become louder as he neared the middle class household, knocking on the door frantically. He rapidly looked behind him as he realized the man who had been following him was now running in the other direction, having realized that Riku was no longer alone.

Riku breathed in relief as the door was opened for him, Kairi greeting him at the door with a big pink witchhat. She wiggled her fingers in delight as she hurried him inside.

"Riku! I'm glad you were able to make it," she giggled with a sunshine smile, hugging him with an arm. "Oh my, did you run here? You're out of breath!"

"Oh, you know," Riku said sheepishly as he shrugged. He looked down momentarily to see her face tilted in curiousity, bubbly smile and eyes still looking at him. But, past her face was her pink corseted dress was a line of a cleavage from the result of her breasts being pushed up. He had blushed slightly, coughing out. "There's probably going to be a lot of creeps outside, so you should be careful with your..."

"Oh you!" she giggled as she slapped him on the arm playfully. "Were you looking at my cleavage?" As Riku sputtered out some embarrassed noises, Kairi giggled out yet again. "I'm just teasing you Riku! I know you're not into girls!"

"But you can help escort us home if you'd like," a whispering female's voice said from behind. Riku shivered.

"Naminé," Riku greeted with a nervous laugh. The blonde ushered off of him with a lopsided grin herself. She matched Kairi except, no surprise, it had all been in black.

Riku was surprised as the blonde turned over his palm, eyes squinted. "You're looking for someone," the blonde said confidently as she held the back of her hand to her mouth to cover her growing smirk.

"And," Kairi popped in with a cute little cackle, grabbing Riku's other palm. "You're gonna confess tonight."

Riku looked from one cousin to the other. They both wore growing grins. With a shake of his head, he pulled away his hands before putting a finger to his mouth to shush them. "Oh come on, I know you didn't get all that from my hands. How did you know?"

Riku looked around the room, people he recognized dancing but still not a sign of the person he was truly looking for before he hissed out, "Is it really written all over my face?"

"It's written in your palms. Lea is coming soon, don't worry," Naminé assured with a wink.

Riku saw the redhead briefly pass through the doorway of his kitchen. Expecting him to walk in soon, he was wrong when his short brown haired friend came in. Sora was dressed in a fancy branded tux with an elegant black cape with a red underlying and when he came closer to Riku, he could see the fangs resting on his bottom lip.

With exaggeration, Sora put his arm up and murmured, "I VANT to suck Your blood," which caused a chuckle to slip out of Riku's lips.

"Hi Sora. Nice costume."

Sora lowered his arm before his nose audibly sniffed. Riku's eyes expanded as Sora walked over to him and realized he was the one being smelled. He audibly gulped. Did he sweat too much when he ran away from that creep?

Sora looked him up and down. "Is that...is that Une Rose?" Sora sniffed again. "By errr, Edouard Fléchier?"

Riku was quite impressed by Sora's fluent French accent on the words, and even more so at his knowledge of scents. He shrunk back into his self-conscious turtle state as he nearly said with a whisper that only Naminé and Kairi had to lean in to hear. "Is it, is it too much?"

"No, no. Quite the opposite. It's actually really delightful." Riku was surprised that Sora was able to hear him through all the noise, but he supposed that he was just reading his lips and piecing his words together. "So, who are you trying to impress?"

"Oh. Uhm, well it's just this silly old little cologne bottle I found," Riku lied. "Really nothing special."

"Don't be so modest. That cologne is only used for special occasions, and I doubt very much it's just for a party," Sora further inquired with a grin. "I know you nearly spent a fortune on that, didn't you?"

"Ok, ok, I'm trying to impress Lea," Riku rushes out with a blush. When the three stepped away from him with smiles lining their mouthes, Riku questioningly looked at them. "What, what is it?"

Riku's eyes widened and faltered on the approaching redhead who clapped his hands and shouted out, "Riku! You came!" Lea's voice was booming and powerful, able to be heard over the pounding music.

His first reaction was to quiver a smile as Lea grinned at him. Now he fully understood why his friends had pressured him into dressing this way.

Lea was dressed as a werewolf. Long sleeved green plaid buttoned shirt, blue jeans. The front of his hands and the top of his feet were covered with auburn fur matching his hair, delicately placed in a natural way. His hair was undone without gel for once and still fell into his own natural spikes, but looked softer. His chest was lined with subtle red hair that peeled out of his shirt. The sides of his face had sideburns that ended at his cheekbones and now that he was closer to him, his eyes had cat like lenses that did not effect the color, just the shape of his pupils. And finally, the wolf ears that sat atop his head, blending naturally into his mane.

Riku gave Naminé a knowing look since she was the one who initiated this "couples cosplay" before turning his attention fully on Lea. "Happy Birthday Lea," he said sheepishly, playing with a long strand of his bang. "And Happy Halloween. I really like your makeup. You look...super cool."

"You look good, Ri," Lea chuckled out. Riku felt his hands slightly brush against his cheeks as they reached for his hood. Lea pulled it down slowly before smiling softly at the silver haired male. "You even did your hair in a braid."

Riku noticed the three of his friends tiptoed away into the kitchen, letting the two of them have their privacy. The butterflies already had begun fluttering in his stomach as Lea traced his fingers along his braid before they ended at the tip of his tied hair. The ribbon became undone as Lea delicately ties it back around, redoing the bow that had come undone.

"Good as new," Lea murmured as he swiped the long strand in front of Riku's face, tucking it behind his ear. Riku dared to look up into those soft emerald orbs of his crush, and found himself aching to say something since he was becoming flustered.

"W-what big eyes you have," Riku joked with a chuckle.

Lea got the gist of where Riku was heading with this, closed his eyes and smiled before opening them back up with a hint of mischief. "All the better to look at you with, my dear."

'Oh, fuck,' Riku giddily screamed in his mind. He continued. "My, what big hands you have."

Riku felt Lea slide his hands down his arms and then settle at his sides before pulling him only in the slightest. "All the better to hold you with, my dear."

Riku's arms rose with goosebumps. All this flirting was making his head swim. He finally rose his head to fully look at the redhead, his cheeks just a smidgen of pink. He noticed the 4 fake pointy teeth on the top and bottom set. "Oh my, what a big mouth you have."

At this, the cogwheels in Lea's mind stopped turning for a fraction of a second. Riku's eyes were just so inviting and his lips looked oh so soft. "All the better to kiss you with, my dear."

...Is what he wanted to say. But, Lea absolutely wanted to make this perfect for Riku. He wanted to take things slowly, and if he were blessed with the chance to finally kiss him and confess, he would want to do it privately. So instead, he gave him a mischievous smirk before leaning in closely to him, practically growling out, "All the better to eat you with, my dear Riku."

He had not expected to make Riku's face so flushed. He wasn't saying anything but short sputters of words that were not forming. Lea froze for a moment, mind going blank. Did he really just say it like that? He didn't mean for it to come out so seductively.

The symptoms are starting to show.

Meanwhile, Riku thought he had made a complete fool of himself and tried to undo this mistake of his by rambling. "Haha, you're twenty one now right? Point me to the drinks." Before I make myself even a bigger fool.

"Drinks?" Lea questioned before slapping his forehead in realization. "Oh, right, they are in the kitchen."

"Thanks, I'll be right back," Riku assured before practically dashing away. He skittered past his friends and went to grab a wine glass before using a ladle to fill it. He sniffed the fruit punch, definitely laced with some sort of alcohol, and began to down it.

"Aren't you too young to drink?" a unison of voices questioned. Riku recognizes those voices as Roxas and Ventus, looking over at them before shushing them with his finger. He guessed all the brothers were dressed as vampires tonight.

"Yes yes, I know, but I seriously need to try to relax somehow," Riku explained like a child caught in the act. He prayed that he would find the confidence to tell Lea how he felt without making himself look like a fool.

"OooOOOOooooOoooOoo," the twins hummed before trailing away. Riku couldn't help but chuckle on how similar they sounded to the aliens from Toy Story.

After some time, he finally felt a buzz before heading back to the party, refilling his glass to the top. It did not take long as whatever they used in the drinks may have had high alcohol content. It did the trick and finally made his previous nervous thoughts disappear.

His shoulder was grabbed lightly and he turned around at the familiar warmth. "Lea," he greeted before turning around with a confident smile.

"Hey, Ri. Do you mind if we can talk for a bit?"

"Hmm, sure, what is it?" he responded more relaxed.

Lea's eyes shifted to the side before going back to Riku. "I mean, in private."

Riku's words caught in his throat. There were the butterflies again. Instead, he muffled out a noise of affirmation before Lea gently grasped his hand. When he was turned away, Riku caught sight of the witch cousins. Kairi beamed while Naminé threw a thumbs up. "Oh my god," he mouthed in silence to the girls and looked ahead of him in glee.

Lea took him down his L-shaped hallway before opening the door to his bedroom. It was completely dark and Lea fixed that problem by turning on a red dim lit lava lamp.

There was a huge bed in the middle of his room. The black out curtains were the result of his room being so dark. Shelves lined his walls full of books, college and probably aged novels. Lea sat down on the edge of his bed, urging Riku to sit next to him by patting the empty space next to him. The silver haired male complied and realized it was a water bed.

It was silent between the two, but the two of them stared at each other. Riku smiled lightly and decided he would start the conversation. "I have a gift for you."

"You didn't really have to," Lea murmured with embarrassment, scratching the back of his neck. "This hair is so fucking itchy."

"But you look good," Riku commented as he searched through his picnic basket before pulling out a small box and handing it to Lea. "Here."

Lea grinned before unwrapping the small box, finding a small black jewelry container before opening it up, finding a pair of earrings. They were simple studs with small diamonds.

"I heard you recently pierced your ears, so..." Riku looked up at Lea before continuing. "They're sterling silver. I know it's not much but-"

"Oh, silver?" Lea questioned with worry. "Like...real silver."

Riku couldn't help but feel there was some sort of disappointment in Lea's voice. "You don't like them? I can get you something else if you want."

Lea quickly changed his tone of voice as he saw a slight sadness to Riku's eyes. "What? No, no no! I love them, Ri. They're perfect."

Riku smiled again before tucking his bang behind his ear. He felt Lea's hand completely encase his. "They're perfect...like you."

"Me?" Riku repeated as Lea looked deeply into his eyes.

Lea's words were now lucid and more quiet. "Yeah..." His eyes had begun to droop and Riku noticed the older male's upper body was now leaning towards him. His face was inching closer, although it had been tremendously slow. Riku responded to his body language, standing completely still as he awaited this perfect moment. This was it. He was going to kiss him.

The both jumped slightly as the door burst open, with an obnoxious cheery voice yelling out, "Birthday boooooy. Are ya here?"

Riku followed the womanly figure from bottom to top. Some stiletto heels, fishnet stockings, high waisted skirt, mid fringe tube top, and a leather jacket slid off her shoulders. Platinum blonde hair slicked back with two strands of hair like curved attenaes positioned perfectly with her lightning eyes.

"Larxene," Lea growled out angrily.

"Oh, am I interrupting something?" Larxene asked coy, but eyed Riku with confusion. "No, really, am I?"

"Yes, I'm a lot busy right now," he accentuated his words. "Can this wait?"

"Not really. I'm heading out of here and then going away for a couple of weeks so."

With defeat, Lea sighed as he looked to Riku. "Do you mind waiting a couple minutes for me?"

"Oh, no problem," Riku assured with a smile. "Take your time."

"Thanks Ri," Lea thanks before leaning over to him and briefly ruffling his hair. "I'll be back, I promise."

Riku was then left alone and he sighed in disappointment. To pass the time away, he supposed he could browse around Lea's room. He grabbed his drink which he left on the edge of his shelf before running his fingers over the different textures of his books.

Tons of biology books, something he was not too surprised at since Lea was studying to be a Biologist. Concepts of Biology. MicroBiology: An Introduction. Several CLEP Exam preparation books.

There was one book that was already half pulled out, probably the result of Lea shoving it back in, but not all the way. Riku pulled it out curiously with a humming shrug, sitting on the bed and opening the book.

He moved closer to the lamp that was giving off little light to see some sort of other language as body text. Riku smiled as he held the page delicately between his fingers, already admiring Lea for knowing how to read...whatever this was.

Riku sipped his drink as he flipped through the pages full of ancient writing until he stopped at an image of the phases of the moon. Riku ran his fingers along from the beginning phase to the ending phase. This was most likely a side hobby of Lea's. He turned the page, a full spread of a sketched full moon with bolder ancient writing.

Closing it, Riku returned it back to its rightful place before opening Lea's door. He had already waited five minutes. Besides, he had this empty feeling in his stomach as a result of drinking without eating prior. He rounded the sharp corner of the hallway. He was actually starting to feel slightly under the weather-

Riku stopped in place as he entered the living room. Were his eyes playing tricks on him or was that Lea and that blonde kissing?

His vision became vertigo as he was only zoomed in on the two's lips that were locked. He breathed out a gasp as he dropped his empty glass of drink, the noise bringing everyone's attention to him.

Lea rapidly pulled away from Larxene, wiping his lips immediately, but still a smidgen of lipstick was on his lips. "Riku."

Riku's eyes darted about. Kairi's face that no longer had a smile. He shifted to the left. Naminé had her hand over her mouth.

Lea's voice was echoing. "Riku, please listen to me. Please."

Riku looked at Sora, who looked back at him with some sort of guilt in his eyes. Was everyone here in on some joke? Everyone knew this was happening and yet no one bothered to tell him. He suddenly felt remorse towards the people around him. All the encouragement to confess and follow his heart were lies.

Oh, god what was this feeling. His heart was sinking. He felt his stomach churn. Betrayal? Heartbreak? His vision was swirling. Riku felt an uncomfortable burp beginning to rise up.

"Riku, it wasn't- it really isn't what it looks like. You have to believe me," Lea begged as his hand grabbed Riku's shoulder.

The silver haired male sobbed as he immediately shrugged Lea off and shoved past the redhead as he held a hand over his mouth. That was definitely no ordinary burp. He uncomfortably withheld the feeling as he ran out the front door. Ran until the music had become more distant. Ran until he could barely hear Lea's voice yelling out for him to come back.


End file.
